A day after the greatest pitching performance in Mets history, the greatest pitcher in Mets history weighed in. And Tom Seaver said Johan Santana’s no-hitter Friday against the Cardinals — the first the Mets have had in their 51 seasons — will be a load off the entire franchise.

“Honestly, not having a no-hitter was an anomaly,” Seaver said in a statement. “It’s great to get this off the franchise’s back. Now they can’t say the Mets are without a no-hitter.’’

The Mets’ 8,019 games without a no-hitter had been the most in major league history according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and though Seaver didn’t learn about it until yesterday morning, his response was like any Mets fan: Finally.

“I’ve never met Johan personally, but, what I’ve heard about him is that he has a big heart and is a huge competitor,’’ Seaver said. “I didn’t watch the game last night. I found out when I picked up the morning paper. My first reaction was, ‘Wow, they finally did it.’ ”

Seaver had taken three no-hitters into the ninth inning as a Met, but always had fallen short. The most famous — or infamous — instance came on July 9, 1969, when Cubs reserve Jimmy Qualls broke up Seaver’s bid for a perfect game with one out in the ninth by hitting a single to left-center.

“I never looked back on losing a no-hitter as long as we won,’’ Seaver said. “I would trade a no-hitter for two wins.”

There is irony in the fact the greatest Met ever wasn’t watching Santana’s no-hitter, but the man who broke up Seaver’s imperfect game was. Not only was Qualls watching from his living room, but — despite living just 150 miles from St. Louis — he was ardently rooting for Santana.

“I was pulling for him,” Qualls told The Post. “I pull for ballplayers, not necessarily New York, if the fellow was pitching a no-hitter on the other team, I would have been pulling for him.” I was pulling for him, and he hung right in there. I could see it as time went on in the ballgame how much [the fans] really wanted it, and I was kind of pulling for him.’’

Qualls insisted he never really gave much thought to how he had become a part of Mets lore, a symbol of their no-hit futility.

“No, not really,” he said. “I knew had the opportunity to be part of not letting Tom do that, but I’ve never really thought about it a lot. A lot of people remind me of it, but I was just fortunate to be where I was at.

“It wasn’t about the 50 years — I was just proud see a guy pitch a game like that. Then the 50 years came after that. Of course, Santana, I kept up with him since Minnesota. I’ve got friends who are Twins fans that had broken hearts when he left Minnesota. He used to bring that ball up there pretty good. He doesn’t throw as hard as he used to, but he doesn’t throw, he pitches.’’